Broadcast Flag Struck Down

In a huge victory for hardware makers and open-TV buffs, a federal appeals court has tossed out government rules that would have outlawed many digital TV receivers and tuner cards starting July 1…the court said that FCC did not have the authority to prohibit the manufacture of computer and video hardware that doesn’t have copy protection technology known as the “broadcast flag.”

The ruling is a big setback for Hollywood studios, which sought to limit unauthorized Internet redistribution of over-the-air TV broadcasts. But it’s a reprieve for makers of HDTV sets, PC tuner cards, and USB and Firewire tuners.